Last week we asked our readers if video games should go into the public domain after a certain period of time. The results were almost split right down the middle between two schools of thought: that games should enter the public domain after a fixed amount of time and that an IP can only be renewed if it is going to be made available to the public.

Earlier this week, Rock Paper Shotgun posted an editorial in response to some Twitter comments made in response to some comments written in an earlier post about GOG's Time Machine Sale. In that post, RPS Editor John Walker wrote:

Last week we asked our readers, "Will Amazon Come Out With a Game Console This Year?" Many of you seemed not to care all that much about the topic as evidenced in the number of votes. That aside, a majority of those who did vote indicated that they thought that Amazon's set-top box capable of playing Android-based games on a big-screen TV and delivering content from the company's Amazon Prime service would not happen this year.

In last week's poll we asked our readers if Candy Crush Saga maker King should be able to trademark the word "Candy" as it relates to games? A majority of the votes (one could even call it a landslide) said that King should not have been able to file for that trademark.

King.com applied for the mark last year and it was approved on last week on January 15. It covers use of the word 'Candy' in games, game accessories, merchandise and other items. Companies who oppose this filing have a 30 day window to file a complaint.

On Friday President Barack Obama gave a speech laying out his plans to curtail the spying activities of the National Security Agency (NSA) on U.S. citizens and on targets abroad. The president promised to reform the agency's programs, but according to a new poll Americans aren't impressed with the president's plan or didn't pay attention to it.

Last week we asked our readers if they believed that it really took EA Maxis six months of development time to change SimCity from an online-only game to an offline game that supported modding. The majority of you weren't buying EA's claim.

Around 79 percent of the 204 votes cast said that they did not believe that it took EA six months to develop SimCity to run in an offline mode. Only around 21 percent said that they believed the statement.

Last year, Electronic Arts launched its new SimCity game and even though it is and always has been a predominantly single player game, the new title had no offline mode. This decision was so unpopular that it's likely the major reason EA earned the Consumerist's Worst Company in America award for the second year in a row.

Last week we asked our readers, "Will Nintendo try to quash the work-around for the 3DS region lock?" The voting was almost evenly split between two trains of thought: that Nintendo would patch out its region lock in a firmware update or that Nintendo would find some way to kill the work-around devised by the 3DS community because it doesn't like to make money.

Back in my day, Nintendo handheld gaming consoles were region free. That's right. If a quirky little game that wasn't being localized for North America caught my eye, I could feel free to give Nintendo money in exchange for the ability to play it to my heart's content. Ah, those were the days!

But they didn't last. No sir, they did not.

It started with the DSi, a revision to Nintendo's previous handheld. It introduced region locking for titles that used DSi-specific features like the camera.

In last week's poll we were making fun of Walmart when we asked our readers, "You buy your kid a new 3DS from Walmart. What’s worse?," followed by three options: "Finding porn on it," "Discovering that Walmart sold you a used 3DS as new," or that "You bought something at Walmart."

Earlier this week we reported on a Virginia man who bought a 3DS from his local Walmart for his eight-year-old son. To his surprise, when his son and other children decided to look at some fresh photos they'd just snapped with the 3DS' camera on Christmas day, they discovered some rather naughty adult images.

Good news for fans of violent games. A large majority of Americans are keen on getting the government out of the business of blocking violent games from being played. You may recall that for many years, various state and the Federal governments had been attempting to regulate violent games in some way.

In last week's poll, we asked readers if they missed video game cartridges (think Nintendo Entertainment System, SNES, Nintendo 64, Master System, and Sega Genesis era). A slim majority of those who participated in the poll said that digital downloads are their favorite way to get games and that they don't miss the days of carts all that much.

They were sturdy and more fun to handle. No need to worry about fingerprints or gingerly placing them in a tray or slot. Just jam those suckers in your console and away you go! Heck, you could dropkick those suckers across the room if you didn't mind getting grounded.

The amount of space is limited only by cost. You could have battery backups and even custom chips (remember the Super NES's FX chip?). They were faster too! No installing and rarely any loading!

In last week's poll we asked you if the results of an investigation into the Dec. 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting would change anyone's minds about gaming's correlation to Adam Lanza's shooting spree that saw six adults and 20 children shot almost a year ago. The majority of those who voted in the poll didn't think the findings of the report would change the minds of those who believe that video games held a strong influence on Adam Lanza and his actions.

Earlier this week, the official investigation report for the shooting at Sandy Hook was released to the public and as any rationally-thinking human being could have surmised 11 months ago, video games had precisely squat to do with it.

When the Xbox 360 launched in 2005, the hardware was plagued with a bunch of console crippling issues, one of which being the famous Red Ring of Death, an LED indication that your game machine is now a giant brick. Some estimates put the failure rate of the 360 as high as 54%. Whatever the actual number was, it was so bad that Microsoft ex

A new WPRI 12 Eyewitness News poll shows that a majority of Rhode Islanders have no problem defaulting on the bonds used to secure 38 Studios a $75 million loan in 2010. The company founded by Curt Schilling would later default on the loan payments and leave the state with a debt of $90 - $100 million.

Last week we asked our readers how they thought the Wii U would fare this holiday season. Around 355 total votes were cast, with a slight majority of participants saying that the Wii U will be ignored more so now that the PS4 and Xbox One are out.

Sit down and buckle in, friends, as I deliver the Understatement of the Week. Are you ready? Okay, here goes...

The Wii U ain't doin' so hot.

Nintendo's newest video game console launched just under a year ago, selling through its entire allotment in its first week on the shelf. By the end of the year, it had sold just over three million units. Not record breaking, not a sell-out like the Wii before it but respectable nonetheless.

Last week we asked our readers if they had "ever found a video game legitimately scary?" After 541 votes were cast the majority of readers said that they had in fact been scared by one or more games at one time or another. Around 73 percent (395 votes) said that they had played a video game that they found legitimately scary, while 27 percent (146 votes) claimed that they had never played a video game that scared them.

Occasionally I'll read a review for a horror game (Amnesia, Outlast, etc.) and the author will talk about how freaked out he or she was, how terrified he or she was to play with the lights out, or how he or she couldn't play it alone.

(You know, the English language really needs a non-sexed pronoun.)

I've honestly never understood that. Games aren't real. It's just an image on your TV so how can it be scary?

Last week in our poll we asked readers "Will There Ever Be a PC Release of Grand Theft Auto 5?" A majority of the 443 votes cast indicated that a PC release of the game is definitely happening. Around 68 percent of voters (285 votes) said that a port to PC is going to happen and that people should just exercise some patience. Given that GTA IV came to the PC a long time after it was released on consoles, this makes sense to most people.

Shout box

Infophile: @Matt: Apparently Dan Aykroyd actually is involved. We don't know how yet, though, but he's apparently going to be in the movie in some way.08/02/2015 - 4:17am

Mattsworkname: I still hold that not having the origonal cast invovled in any way hurts this movie, and unless the 4 actresses in the lead roles can some how measure up to the comic timing of the origonal cast, i just don't see it being a success08/02/2015 - 12:46am

Mattsworkname: Mecha: regardless of what you think of it, GB 2 was a finanical success and for it time did well with audiances ,even if it wasnt as popular as the first08/02/2015 - 12:45am

MechaTama31: I think they're better off trying to do something different, than trying to be exactly the same and having every little difference held up as a shortcoming. Uncanny valley.08/01/2015 - 11:57pm

MechaTama31: Having the original cast didn't do much for... that pink-slimed atrocity which we must never speak of.08/01/2015 - 11:56pm

Mattsworkname: Andrew: If the new ghostbusters bombs, I cant help but feel it'll be cause it removed the origonal cast and changed the formula to much08/01/2015 - 8:31pm

Andrew Eisen: Not the best look but that appears to be a PKE meter hanging from McCarthy's belt.08/01/2015 - 7:34pm

Mattsworkname: You know what game is a lot of fun? rocket league. It' s a soccer game thats actually fun to play cause your A Freaking CAR!08/01/2015 - 7:02pm

Mattsworkname: Nomad colossus did a little video about it, showing the world and what can be explored in it's current form. It's worth a look, and he uses text for commentary as not to break the immerison08/01/2015 - 5:49pm

Mattsworkname: I feel some more mobility would have made it more interesting and I feel that a larger more diverse landscape with better graphiscs would help, but as a concept, it interests me08/01/2015 - 5:48pm

Andrew Eisen: Huh. I guess I'll have to check out a Let's Play to get a sense of the game.08/01/2015 - 5:47pm

Mattsworkname: It did, I found the idea of exploring a world at it's end, exploring the abandoned city of a disappeared alien race and the planets various knooks and crannies intriqued me.08/01/2015 - 5:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Did it appeal to you? If so, what did you find appealing?08/01/2015 - 5:43pm

Mattsworkname: Its an interesting concept, but it's not gonna appeal to everyone thats for sure,08/01/2015 - 5:40pm

Andrew Eisen: That sounds horrifically boring. Doesn't sound like an interesting use of its time dilation premise either. 08/01/2015 - 5:36pm

Mattsworkname: an observer , seeing this sorta frozen world and being able to explore without any restriction other then time. no enimes, no threats, just the chance to explore08/01/2015 - 5:34pm